How can social media help emergency management and disaster response efforts?

1. submit your own original question and original post of less than 300 words.
2. submit a response to TWO other questions posed that week by your classmates
3.  Find an external source that supports your initial post and find external sources for the two classmate responses.

CLASSMATE RESPONSES

1. How can social media help emergency management and disaster response efforts?

Every social media platform can be used for emergency management. Depending on what emergency management professionals are trying to achieve, certain social media methods and methods may be more beneficial than others.Facebook is the largest social media network with nearly 2.5 billion users worldwide, and messages posted on this platform are most likely to be seen by a large number of digital audiences. Certain functions also make it attractive in emergency management situations. For example, if a major car accident affects traffic on a highway, emergency management officials can use Facebook posts to detail the accident, estimated commute delays, and alternative routes based on where the driver is from.Twitter only allows 280 characters per message or tweet, so it may not be as effective when conveying large amounts of information in one post. These messages can still be viewed and forwarded immediately by followers, and can help send brief alerts and updates about emergencies, such as ongoing shootings or crimes.Hashtags enable social media users to view a collection of posts with corresponding text. For example, if a user were to search for the hashtag #travelimages on Twitter or Instagram, all public images sharing the same hashtag would appear. When trying to organize and collect public information about emergencies, hashtags can help emergency management professionals.

2. What other options, other than social media, are available for communication during emergency situations?

In my opinion, a college or university should have a comprehensive plan in place for communication of emergency situations to students, faculty, staff, community agencies, and possibly parents.

In addition to social media, what other platforms should be used? The ability for emergency agencies to send regular texts during an emergency situation could prove helpful. The text would be delivered straight to the students phones. With social media they have to “search” for it. “Studies have shown that text messaging is one of the best ways to communicate with the current generation of students. With a 98% open rate, text messages have a much higher probability of reaching students compared to email.”